ATHLETIC BOOSTERS MEETING
The March meeting of the Board of Directors of the Maggie Walker Athletic Boosters Club will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 21 in room 105. In addition to officers and directors, the meeting is open to Athletic Boosters members and those interested in supporting Maggie Walker athletics. All spring varsity teams are expected to have a parent representative present at the meeting. Also, if you are interested in serving as an officer or director for the 2018-19 school year, please contact Athletic Boosters President Rich Schweiker at dukeschweikers@aol.com.
MLWGS PTSA MEETING
Our next meeting is Monday, March 26 at 8 a.m. in room 153
At our March General PTSA meeting, the Counseling department will lead a presentation about college prep and the application process. Our Senior counselors, Rachel Loving and Kierstin Streitel, will provide an overview, discuss timeliness, and answer questions. MLWGS parent Stacy Price will also join us to discuss her experience from an Admissions office perspective, having worked in Admissions at the University of Richmond. This program is open to all Maggie Walker parents, but is especially geared toward our Freshman and Sophomore parents who may be wondering how they can support their students and help them plan accordingly to achieve their college goals. We hope to see you there on Monday morning!
ORCHESTRA NEWS
Maggie Walker Chamber Orchestra earned straight Superior ratings for program of highest level of difficulty for the second year in a row at the District I Orchestra Assessment Festival.
Congratulations to the Chamber Orchestra for earning the highest rating of Superior from each of four judges at the District 1 Orchestra Assessment Festival Thursday, March 8 at Short Pump Middle School. The performance consisted of Overture to Idomeneo by Mozart, Reflexions by Carold Nunez, and a sight reading component where the ensemble was evaluated on their ability to perform a piece of music on the very first run-through with no prior rehearsal. Maggie Walker was one of only two schools from District 1 performing music at the hardest level of difficulty to earn straight Superior ratings.
SABR ANALYTICS COMPETITION
By winning the college-level SABR Analytics Competition again this year, MLWGS – still the only high school ever to compete in this program – is now the first school to boast winning teams in back-to-back years.
Only one other school (NYU) has equaled the feat of winning twice. Our winning team consists of Matthew Haines (Hanover ’18), Aditya Kannoth (Henrico ’18), David Winters (Hanover ’19), Reid Jesselson (Henrico ’18), and Yug Rao (Henrico ’18). Also pictured, Vince Gennaro- president of SABR.
The SABR Analytics Diamond Dollars Case Competition pits students from colleges across the country against each other in an analytic major league baseball operations decision — the type of decision a team’s general manager and staff faces over the course of a season. The teams presented their analysis and recommendations to a panel of judges that included MLB front office executives on Friday, March 9, in Phoenix, AZ.
In this year’s competition, twenty-three teams were asked to evaluate the relationship between launch angle and exit velocity of batted balls. The winning MLWGS team created their own metric (RAP – Runs Added per Play) which they used in a simulation that they ran thousands of times in Python. The competition divided teams into four divisions, and the Maggie Walker team took first place in their division, defeating teams from Cal Poly- San Luis Obispo, NYU, University of Alabama, and St. John Fisher.
NEWS FROM OUR LIBRARIAN
An article I wrote about teaching students to seek contrasting viewpoints was published in the EBSCOpost. Read the article here Teaching Students to Seek Contrasting Viewpoints
Wendy DeGroat
The Foundation will soon begin discussions with the school administration about the level of enhancement grant support we can provide in 2018-19 school year. This number is dependent on our fundraising this fiscal year, and it's always our hope to be able to raise that number based on an increase in fundraising revenue. Increased utilization of enhancement funding this year means we've been able to do a lot for MLWGS teachers and students, but it also means 91% of that funding has been spoken for with three months still remaining in the school year. We need your help to do more next year.
So far this year, the Foundation's 2017-18 Annual Fund Campaign has raised $257,042 which is 77% of our $330,000 goal. 30% of current parents have donated a total of $58,157. In our strongest fundraising years, parent participation has reached 70%. Class of 2019 parents are just over halfway there! Here is the parent participation by class as of March 15:
Senior: 27%
Junior: 36%
Sophomore: 27%
Freshmen: 30%
Make your gift today to enrich the MLWGS experience for all students.
